


Honour

by chaosmanor



Series: The Gift [9]
Category: Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Low level violence, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2003-12-10
Updated: 2003-12-10
Packaged: 2017-10-10 23:33:37
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,472
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/105659
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chaosmanor/pseuds/chaosmanor





	Honour

It was the second night after the siege of Gondor was broken and Gandalf, Aragorn, Eomer and Prince Imrahil had found themselves a room off the main guardhouse at the gates of Minas Tirith. There they had made a comfortable fire, and were drinking fine brandy, brought by Prince Imrahil, who had found Denethor's cellar. They were sure the old man would not have begrudged them some brandy. Not in one of his saner moments.

They sat enjoying the fire, sometimes talking, sometimes silent, Aragorn and Gandalf smoking their pipes. A sudden fluster in the corridor outside broke the reverie, and Aragorn clearly heard one of the twins' voices saying, "Be quiet and get out of my way, you silly man."

A moment later, as Aragorn and Gandalf were rising from their seats, Elrohir pushed his way past the guard at the door. He bowed to all of the room's occupants and turned to Aragorn and said, "You're needed at the camp, Estel. There's a fight."

Aragorn nodded at Gandalf, Eomer and Prince Imrahil and said, "Good Evening, and Good Night. By the time this is resolved, it will be late. I will see you both tomorrow." He pulled his cloak about his shoulders and left, accompanied by Elrohir, who had been fidgeting in the doorway.

As Aragorn followed Elrohir's run across the courtyard and out through the broken gates, he asked, "Who is fighting, that we are rushing so?" They leapt over a ditch and veered towards a large cluster of tents with a campfire just visible between them. The noise of angry voices could be heard.

"Legolas and Elberad, last I saw. The fight may have spread since I left."

Aragorn felt his chest tighten at the mention of Legolas' name. At that, they pushed through the now quietening crowd, and found Legolas kneeling on the ground, with Gimli, looking furious, standing over him brandishing his axe, and Elladan kneeling beside Legolas with a cloth pressed to the elf's face. There was nobody else obviously wounded.

Aragorn dropped to the ground in front of his lover and gently took Elladan's hands and the cloth from Legolas' face. "Let me look," he said. "Is anything broken?" he asked Legolas softly.

Legolas looked back at him through hazy eyes. "I don't think my nose is broken," he replied, voice strangely muffled. Aragorn pressed gently on the bridge of his nose, making Legolas wince, and the blood flowed freely from his nose. Aragorn took the cloth back from Elladan and pressed it to Legolas' nose again. "It doesn't seem broken," he said. "Are you hurt anywhere else?"

"Only my hand," said Legolas, holding up one hand with split and bruised knuckles.

"Elrohir and Gimli," said Aragorn, "take Legolas to my tent where there's a lamp, and clean his hand with fresh water and a new cloth. Elladan," Aragorn continued, "you'd better show me the person that Legolas hurt his fist on."

Elladan led Aragorn to the far side of the Ranger's camp, where a light was burning in a tent.

Elberad was stretched out on a blanket on his side, with his brother, Kellerard, holding a wet cloth to his face. The uninjured man looked up. "Captain Aragorn," he said, bowing his head briefly. "Please let me apologise for my brother's behaviour."

"It was bad, was it?" responded Aragorn, kneeling beside the unconscious man. He ran his fingertips over the young man's face. "Is he hurt anywhere else?" he asked.

"All the blows where to the face, but he hit his head when he fell," he replied.

Aragorn reached for the lamp and looked closely at the injured man's scalp, and then ran his fingers over his head. "There is only a shallow cut on his scalp, and a small bruise. He should wake soon," he said. "I'm going to have Elberad moved to the House of Healing, at least until tomorrow."

Aragorn stepped outside the tent and turned to one of the waiting Ranger's. "Go to the front gate and ask for a stretcher to take Elberad to the House of Healing." He turned back to Kellerard. "When you go with Elberad to the House of Healing, please ask the Healer for ice, if they have any to spare, to be sent to me. Make the request in my name, it should work."

 

Aragorn drew Elladan aside, away from Elberad's tent and the listening Rangers. "Tell me what happened, Elladan," he said.

"Legolas was drunk," he started, and then stopped again. "You haven't known Legolas long enough to know what he's like drunk, have you?" he said after a pause.

Aragorn shook his head. "No. Is he difficult?"

Elladan nodded and said "He's either belligerent or amorous, or occasionally, both." "Tonight, he was belligerent. Elberad insulted Legolas, and then Elberad insulted you, and Legolas and he traded blows, and Legolas knocked him down."

"Why didn't you stop him? Couldn't you and Elrohir together stop him?" asked Aragorn.

"We couldn't. Elrohir was already restraining me to prevent me from pounding Elberad for the things he was saying about Legolas," Elladan replied, shame making his voice soft. "And then, when Legolas did punch Elberad, Elrohir let go of me to run and find you. Elberad fell over almost immediately, and I held Legolas back until I was sure he was calm again, and found a cloth for his face, and then you arrived," explained Elladan.

"What, exactly, did Elberad say about me that enraged Legolas so much?" asked Aragorn.

Elladan shook his head at Aragorn. "I'm not going to repeat it."

Aragorn looked at Elladan closely, seeing the signs of a wounded heart clearly, and said "Thank you for your help. Go and drink some more, you deserve to relax."

 

Gimli was standing in the opening of the tent, barring entrance and supervising the care of Legolas at the same time. "Put your axe away, Gimli, and go and have some wine. You must have worked up a thirst," said Aragorn. Gimli nodded and stuck his axe in the ground outside Aragorn's tent, and walked off towards the campfire, humming a martial sounding tune under his beard.

Aragorn found Elrohir sitting in the tent, washing Legolas' injured hand. He put a hand on his shoulder and said "Thank you for finding me, and for restraining Elladan. A brawl would have been much messier than this."

Elrohir smiled at Aragorn, and ducked out of the tent.

 

Aragorn knelt in front of Legolas and gently picked up his hurt hand. Legolas reached out his unhurt hand and stroked Aragorn's face.

"How is the man I hit? Is he going to be alright," Legolas asked.

"He will recover, though you have broken his nose and cheek, and he will never be the same to look at," replied Aragorn. "I've had him moved to the Houses of Healing, at least for tonight."

"Tomorrow I will apologise to him, when I am sober again," said Legolas. "Are you angry with me for punching him?" he asked.

Aragorn felt his chest begin to unclench for the first time since the run to the camp. "No, only angry at myself for not being here to defend my own honour. What did he say? Elladan would not tell me."

"He said a good many things about me, which did not worry me, as my older brothers used to say many of the same things. Elladan became furious at those insults, and Elrohir had to hold him back. And then the man said that you were not fit to be king because you were fucking me," said Legolas. "And then I hit him. Hard."

Aragorn nodded, and leant forward and carefully pressed his lips against Legolas', taking care not to bump his swollen nose. "If I had been here, I would have hit him too," said Aragorn, moving his lips to Legolas' forehead. "Come back to the fire with me, if you are not too sore. I need to show I am not ashamed of you," said Aragorn. "Though you will need to take your tunic off. It's covered in blood."

Aragorn held Legolas' hand and led him back towards the fire, where many Rangers were still gathered, for the fight had generated a great deal of gossip. A runner had arrived with an ice pack that the elf was pressing to his face. Gimli caught Legolas' eye over the ice pack and grinned, before turning back to arguing with the burly looking Ranger that he was berating.

Aragorn was offered a comfortable spot near the fire, with the remnants of a farm wall for support and shelter from the wind. Aragorn released Legolas' hand to sit down and then reached up to pull the elf down onto his lap. Legolas settled himself on the ground, leaning back against Aragorn's chest and supported by his legs.

Aragorn pulled his pipe and pouch out of a pocket and began to pack his pipe. When he was done, the Ranger next to him handed him a twig from the fire to light his pipe.  
Legolas leant his bruised face against Aragorn's neck when he began to smoke. "Do you remember when I asked what the pipe tasted like?" Legolas asked softly.

Aragorn nodded. "And I was fool enough to offer you the pipe rather than my mouth," he answered. He turned his head carefully so as not to bump Legolas' sore face and found his lips with his own. "What do you think of the taste?" Aragorn asked quietly, then moved his lips across Legolas' mouth.

"I think I have never tasted anything so wonderful before," replied Legolas after their lingering kiss ended. They both looked up to find a drunk Elladan kneeling in front of them watching them kiss.

"Legolas," Elladan said, obviously working hard at talking clearly. "If you had to decide to be with someone other than me, I'm glad it was Estel." And then Elladan leaned unsteadily forward and kissed Legolas fully and roughly. Legolas opened his mouth, letting Elladan's tongue slide over his. He was briefly concerned about Aragorn's reaction to them kissing until he felt an instantly recognisable pressure against his buttocks.

Elladan pulled shakily back from the kiss and murmured "You're beautiful, and so are you," before claiming an equally passionate kiss from Estel. Aragorn kissed back, already aroused by the sight of two gorgeous elves kissing in his lap.

Elladan knelt back and said "I'm off to my tent now, and I'm going to be busy with my hand for a while, so don't disturb me," before rising to his feet a little unsteadily and wandering off.

 

When dawn broke, Legolas was already awake, lying next to Aragorn. Aragorn had thrown an arm over Legolas during the night, and Legolas dared not move, for fear of disturbing the man.

They had come back to the tent and made love last night, after sitting by the campfire with the other Rangers. Aragorn had been gentle, careful not to bump Legolas' face, and Legolas had responded deeply to the care in the lovemaking. Now Legolas was awake early, listening to every breath that Aragorn drew, hearing every beat of his heart. This was when the fear of Aragorn dying would seize him, when every breath drawn was one less breath left in the man's life. Rationally, he knew that during a battle, elves are as mortal as anyone else, that swords and arrows killed everyone equally. During the grey light before dawn, this rationale did not hold, and he could almost feel the life slipping out of Aragorn and he could do nothing other than hold Aragorn and remember every breath, every moment.

Aragorn stirred against him, waking with the growing light. "Let me look at you, elf," said Aragorn, once he had opened his eyes.

Legolas turned towards him, and watched Aragorn smile. "I look that entertaining, do I?" he said.

"You are bruising here, and here," said Aragorn, as he trailed his fingers across the mottling on Legolas face.

The gentle touch moving across the soreness of his face was soothing and thrilling at once, and the pleasure coursed through the elf's body in response to the touch. He felt his cock hardening, and a soft moan rose in his throat.

Aragorn watched the flush spread across Legolas' cheeks where there was no bruising and heard the sounds of pleasure in his throat. "I don't think it is supposed to feel quite that good, love. Not when I have to meet with the other Captains as soon as I have breakfasted," said Aragorn, gently kissing the corner of Legolas' mouth. "Tonight, I'll stroke your face again," promised Aragorn, throwing off the blankets and reaching for his boots.

 

* * * * * * * * * **

 

Legolas sat on the damp ground, his hunk of bread in his hand, cup of steaming tea on the ground beside him. His face hurt, especially his nose, and he suspected the bruising looked strange on him. Some of the Rangers had asked him how he was, most had spoken a morning greeting to him at least, so he was sure he had not alienated the Rangers completely with the fight.

Elladan walked across the open campground carrying his bread and tea and sat beside him. Elves didn't usually feel any ill effects from wine, but Elladan seemed subdued.

"Are you not well this morning, Elladan?" asked Legolas.

"I am a little embarrassed at my behaviour last night, Legolas. I can not remember clearly, but I think I need to apologise to you for kissing you. I did kiss you, didn't I?" replied Elladan, pausing to sip his tea.

"You did. And Aragorn," added Legolas, quietly enjoying Elladan's discomposure.

"I kissed Estel?" said Elladan, disbelief on his face.

"You did."

"Tell me it was just a sign of brotherly affection," Elladan moaned, burying his head in his hands.

"I hope not. You kissed him the same way you kissed me. And you called him beautiful," Legolas teased.

"Arggh. How embarrassing," said Elladan, his voice muffled by his head still being in his hands.

"I would have thought that it was what you said after kissing us that was the most embarrassing," Legolas said, prodding Elladan in his ribs.

Elladan lifted his head up to look at Legolas, horror on his face. "What did I say? It was bad, wasn't it?" he said.

"After kissing us both, you said you were going to be busy with you hand in your tent," Legolas replied.

Elladan's face flushed red with embarrassment at this, and he hid his head in his hands again. "Go away, Legolas," he said.

Legolas patted Elladan on the shoulder and said, "At least you didn't get into a fight," he said.

Elladan made a gurgling sound from behind his hands, and Legolas turned his attention to sipping his tea.


End file.
